Headed Our Way

A coronal mass ejection (CME) with a broad front blasted from the Sun and headed towards Earth (Nov. 26-28, 2011), which is labeled in the image. The wide-angle view of the STEREO HI2 (Ahead) instrument caught the action. The CME seems to have originated from a double filament eruption on Nov. 26 observed by SDO. The particle cloud (darker mass) can be seen buffeting Earth late on Nov. 28th. It sparked some aurora activity near the polar regions. Without the STEREO instrument we would not be able to see the track of solar storms like this one.